Monday, March 29, 2010

DiscoverReady

DiscoverReady was one of the few chop shops in town offering project work last week, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were inundated with 10,000 resumes. All this for a job that is expected to last less than two weeks, where your cell phone is confiscated at the sweatshop door, and where you are lucky to scrape by with 40 hours per week. Welcome to the new reality. Recently, the ABA sponsored a presentation discussing how outfits like DiscoverReady are the wave of the future:

As we have been saying for years, welcome to the Wal-Martization of the so called profession of law, where obscene partner profits and rock bottom freelancing rates are the rule of the day.

As Kaye Scholer partner James Blank is quoted as saying in the study,“you just don’t need the bodies and man hours to get answers anymore. E-Discovery tools have eliminated the need to have junior associates review boxes of documents, which is why you are seeing thousands [of] junior associates laid off.”

E-Discovery tools, Mr. Blank? By tools, are you referring to cheap offshore human labor? While Mr. Blank and the offshore discovery vendors bask under the green shade of the money tree (DiscoverReady's emblem is the money tree, by the way), American law graduates suffer through the autumn of despair, with sky high student loan debt and a lack of jobs.

93 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I wish the legal profession were like Walmart. Walmart is a successful business and THE BIGGEST EMPLOYER IN THE U.S.!They give 1 million people permanent jobs and can live in low cost parts of the country.Remember those Walmart workers don't have any student debt.

Blank is being truthful about the opinion of the big law firms.Unfortunately he is dead wrong.

In law & business everything is about relationships. You have to be a people person and using contacts.Most associates and temps don't realize this and stupidly think that they will "get ahead" based on their paper certificate and some law school BarBri type knowledge.

That's why at firms like Kaye Scholar equally able partners but 5% bring in all the business.

Temps, drop the negative and arrogant "I'm an officer of the court" attitude and be a person and friend business people can turn to for advice. No Nigerian zulu will be able to do this.

Look at this piece of garbage printed in 36 Northern Kentucky L. Rev. 479. It is entitled, "The Ethics of Legal Outsourcing" and was written by the chair of the Jones-Day E-Discovery Committee. He also "teaches" E-Discovery at RuTTTgers University.

This man wants to further bring down the wages of U.S. attorneys, and put legions of them out of work entirely. A TTT law review saw fit to print this filth. And he teaches at a commode.

Surprise, surprise - this industry tool finds that legal outsourcing is ethical. (Would this esteemed legal journal allow O.J. Simpson to author an academic article, whereby he concludes that it is okay to chop off one's wife's head in the "interests of justice" or "under exigent circumstances", such as being seen with another man?)

I am a doctorate in juris science.This is not like an MBA. It takes one more year to get.The courses are so hard and you have to be a very unique thinker to get the J.D. doctor degree.Then you have to take the hard bar exam.Then you become a counselor at the bar.I feel like I have achieved something worthwhile and unique.Not every person can do this.

I went to Hofstra and have noticed some people here are downgrading my school and saying things like TTT and a joke.

People pay a lot of money and go through a competitive screening process to go to Hoftsra. Once you are there it is no walk in the park. I remember many all nighters and working in the library every day until late.

I admit the alumni network in the city is not what I expected. I had understood that Hoftsra partners were all over the big firms and that they would look out for their younger alums like myself.

The Hofstra promise is still alive and I feel pride in the school and am happy I went there. Many of my classmates will become big firm partners and leaders in the field such as judges. There will be a day when this will pay off. Just not today.

Your in denial! Seriously ... you are. School is BIG business, and there are no jobs. Law school is bad economics. Most students do it because there are no jobs. Listen to Obama: "Go back to school!" Why? The market has only gotten worse over the past 10 years while student debt has exploded. It's so bad, that there are now programs in place to shift the unpaid debt back on the US taxpayers after 25 years. Closing schools and demonstrations by unemployed students is the answer but it won't happen. Instead, today's youth is sold a bill of goods to temporarily pacify them while mortgaging their future. Welcome to the working poor! That is after you move past your denial that there is work for all of the attorneys being dumped on the market. There is a reason it's called a bell curve, and truly only the top 3% will succeed.

The racist, classist, elitist devils that run law firms, law schools and this country think that most of you are foolish mud people. They sneer at you at your every move. They beat you down consistently and they tell you in their actions and words that you are beneath the mud that they believe that you spring from.

And much like that gullible girl in 30 Days Of Night, you fools look to them and say 'oh my god'...and the elitist devils, are are your gods, look about in search for your god that will save you from them....and they look you in the eye, like the head vampire in that movie, and they tell you in that creep way, "no gawd"...

Law is the devil, run by devils and for devils. You fungible and clearly disposable mud people need to look at yourselves in the mirror and ask: "can I be like those devils? Do I have the connections, skills and absolute ruthlessness to successfully be amongst my wicked superiors in the devilish 'profession' of law?"...

You all should know the answer by now. Leave law. You won't regret it.

So, I don't understand. If this is true, and with all the publicity and Gen Y's ability to learn from the internet, why are there any applicants to lower-tier law schools with high tuition? Are they all clueless, hopeless dreamers?

lawyers are a dime a dozen. Actually, they are a nickel a dozen. That anyone still has an entitlement attitude with a law degree and zero experience confounds me.

Remember this. You are worthless to society as a 1-3 years out attorney. Frankly, you need at least 5 years post law school to have that self-entitled attitude beaten out of you. Graduation from law school and passing the bar is an accomplishment much in the same way graduating from High School or winning the Little League penant is an accomplishment. It's an accomplishment only to you and your family, not to anyone else.

You can distinguish yourself among the millions of unemployed bright eyed and bushy tailed lawyers by showing some T&A and a little bush, and hanging around the big firm lobby where partners might notice.

The Bar has an obligation to protect the public from the harm that occurs when those who are not licensed to practice law in Mississippi provide legal services. Last year, the Board of Bar Commissioners authorized the creation of the Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law to study the issues involving UPL in Mississippi and report back recommendations for addressing these concerns. Bar President George Fair appointed the Task Force early last Fall. The Task Force has organized and is meeting regularly. It has begun the task of identifying issues, situations, and circumstances that may constitute the unauthorized practice of law. The Task Force seeks input from Bar members and asks that you forward your concerns, thoughts, suggestions, examples, and recommendations to Executive Director Larry Houchins by e-mail at houchins@msbar.org. Please submit your input by April 23, 2010.

She's a stupid twat who openly flouts New York State's labor laws on these pages. She still sends me emails and I've (very thankfully) never worked with her nor do I (also very thankfully) currently have to.

The temp legal trade is inhabited by what I'd term to be lower class versions of low class real estate brokers. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find that they are, in fact, washed out low class real estate brokers in their ranks. The entire filed gives me the skivvies.

An Avon attorney who is suspected of absconding with clients’ funds turned up at a Florida rehabilitation center last week and apparently checked himself in.Deron S. Drumm, 38, had operated a two-lawyer real estate and bankruptcy practice up until a few weeks ago. Connecticut grievance officials have been trying to locate him after funds were discovered missing from his client trust account.Last week, they got a call from the HealthCare Connection of Tampa telling them that Drumm had appeared at their clinic. The clinic, which opened in 1995, specializes “in the treatment of impaired professionals,” according to its web site.In legal circles, the clinic is known for its addiction-recovery program designed specifically for attorneys, and is run by attorney Timothy J. Sweeney. He did not return repeated calls for comment.“Within Florida, HealthCare Connection is the preferred provider” of health care services for lawyers, said Michael J. Cohen, executive director of the Florida Lawyers Assistance Program. “They have one of the pre-eminent programs in the country.”A web site for the HealthCare Connection Foundation says it costs about $35,000 to pay for one patient’s “intensive day/night treatment with community housing, including food, medications, and clothing, if necessary.” The treatment lasts for three months.Drumm disappeared from Connecticut earlier this month after a real estate closing on March 10. Grievance officials were alerted when a $119,000 check to a lending institution bounced due to insufficient funds in Drumm’s client trust account. The check was to pay off an existing mortgage on the property that was transferred on March 10.On March 12, Drumm sent an e-mail to his associate, Matthew Mancini, saying that he was “out of here.”

2:22 AM do you work for HofsTTTra? that "school" is a joke & churns out garbage, anyone who is proud to say they've gone there is a fool..we need to close these 3rd tier schools to trim the fat & eliminate the glut of bad lawyers.

3:51 PM, I am an officer of the court, can you provide me with work? I am amenable to non-legal work as well & will work for food to feed my growing tribe, you are most exaltedAAREONAKAKANFO AKIMBOmost humble servant

Cutting-edge educationRanked among the top schools nationwide, Hofstra Law is an intellectually stimulating environment.

World-class professorsWhat you’ll find here at Hofstra Law are world-class professors who make an impact beyond the classroom.

Driven studentsAs a Hofstra Law student, you’ll be surrounded by the best sophisticated classmates who make up one of the most diverse law schools. Our student body hails from 35 countries, 45 states and 150 colleges.

Visit usSee it all for yourself. Visit our campus, just outside New York City, and you’ll understand why lawyers and leaders worldwide, including the blind New York Governor David Paterson, are proud Hofstra Law alumni.

Apply nowWe know you have big dreams about making your own impact in the world. Hofstra Law will shape your ability to make a difference throughout your life.

I worked with as associate at S&C who did undergrad at Hofstra. Later she managed to get into NYU law - but that intitial Hofstra Guido-ism never left her. At the core, she remained a cheap little low-level floozie. I don't know about Hofstra Law but what I have seen of undergrad it is pure crap.

At a certain point (about 5 years into your career), the school you come from loses relevance. My problem with the industry is in the oversupply of lawyers and challenge in acquiring quality paying clients.

The prospective clients I get are just absolute nut jobs who try to get something for nothing. They consider it a good deed to stiff their attorney.

However, if the same person goes to a doctor, the first question they are asked is how they are paying for it. They wouldn't dare stiff their doctor because they would get blacklisted. I think its about time that lawyers grow a spine and talk business first before they go into the substance of their case.

Imagine a world where the receptionist tells the prospect that a consult will cost $XXX, takes down the client's info including SS# and the client knows that they are completely liable for the consult as well as all additional legal fees once they retain an attorney.

This way, clients wont be bouncing around from one office to another to seek legal advice that they use in conjunction with legalzoom.

Where is everyone???? Whatzzzz going on????Does everyone have the SWINE FLU???Is everyone at TOWNHALL MEETINGS???Is everyone printing money at the FED???Whatzzz going on???? Am I the only one sitting in my underwear crying???? Whatzzz going on?????

Nigerian zulu, huh? With your obvious flaws and ignorance, do we give "chit" that you are unable to find work as a contract attorney, much less, a janitor? Not to mention, who's fault is it that legal work is now being sent offshore to maximize profits? The Nigerian zulu or the jackass greedy WASP? Things that make you go, "HHHHMMMM"?

Listen 8:55, youre wrong about CUNY law being a TTT. I thought the definition of TTT was a poorly ranked expensive school that has very poor ratio of money spent to actual salaries. Tuition at CUNY is under $12k/yr. Sure its low ranked but you get what you pay for and its not a bad deal if you want to be a solo or work in poblic interest or for the city govt. - its probably a better value per dollar than a real TTT like Hofstra or NYLS.

am often asked to write something that describes the alphabet soup of employment based visas. My website has a page devoted to visa types but it’s far from complete. To fill the gaps I recently wrote a more definitive article: “The Most Generous Nation in the World… at Giving Jobs Away.” In it, I untangle the legalese that tends to obfuscate immigration visa programs by using confusing terminology and more detail than needed. Every employment based visa category is explained in a succinct style that laymen (like myself) can understand. The essay was written so that it can be used as a reference manual for those who want to understand the visa programs without spending inordinate amounts of time to wade through tedious government and legal websites.The article is in the Social Contract Journal, a quarterly magazine that is published by the Social Contract Press. There are many other good essays to read in the new issue of the magazine — many of them address the impact of immigration on jobs. You can get a good idea of the theme of the essays by the title of the newest issue: “Timeout! The case for a moratorium on legal immigration“.Kevin Lamb’s synopsis of the current magazine gives a good general overview.One link that you should put on your “to read” list is an article he wrote in 2005: “The Leftward Course Of Human Events“, September 22, 2005. Lamb’s excommunication from the conservative media is a story that should be heard by everyone who is concerned about first-amendment rights to free speech. It’s also a tragic reminder that the bitter battle being waged between traditional conservatives and neo-cons has human costs as well as ideological and political.

Chadbourne & Parke’s decision last month not to offer jobs to 11 deferred associates from 2009 obviously didn’t sit well with those affected. Nor does the firm’s plan to move on in its summer program recruiting. The New York Law Journal spoke with four of those involved as well as the firm’s head of recruiting to provide more insight into the move.

According to the report, Arent Fox and Winstead are the only other biglaw firms known to have rescinded offers to deferred associates of 2009. Yet Scott Berson, a partner and the firm’s head of recruiting, said that while the business decision “was not something we took lightly at all…we really don’t think we’re standing out in any particular way.

“We handled an issue every New York law firm was handling, and we felt this was the most equitable way to do it given the firm’s circumstances and students’ circumstances, both of which were taken into account,” Berson told NYLJ.

The firm said it will be back recruiting on law school campuses in August, but at least one of the deferred associates finds that particularly unfair.

“I would hope that if they were going to end our relationship they would have looked to end their future classes,” the lawyer said.

The firm’s reasoning, according to Berson, is not having a summer program would potentially hurt the firm’s law-school pipeline.

“We thought not having a summer program or drastically reducing a summer program would send the wrong message, because we’re very optimistic about our future,” Berson said. “We don’t want to cut ties with other law schools or at least leave the impression with law schools we’re drastically changing our policies about recruiting.”

Citing a report by the National Association for Law Placement, the NYLJ reports a total of 2,400 law school graduates were deferred last year when in the midst of the recession

With a client list that reads like a roster of Fortune 500 firms, a little-known company with an odd name, the Talx Corporation, has come to dominate a thriving industry: helping employers process — and fight — unemployment claims.

By the time Gerald Grenier successfully completed the process for unemployment benefits, he had lost his apartment and moved in with his sister.

Talx, which emerged from obscurity over the last eight years, says it handles more than 30 percent of the nation’s requests for jobless benefits. Pledging to save employers money in part by contesting claims, Talx helps them decide which applications to resist and how to mount effective appeals.

The work has made Talx a boom business in a bust economy, but critics say the company has undermined a crucial safety net. Officials in a number of states have called Talx a chronic source of error and delay. Advocates for the unemployed say the company seeks to keep jobless workers from collecting benefits.

“Talx often files appeals regardless of merits,” said Jonathan P. Baird, a lawyer at New Hampshire Legal Assistance. “It’s sort of a war of attrition. If you appeal a certain percentage of cases, there are going to be those workers who give up.”

When fewer former workers get aid, a company pays lower unemployment taxes.

Wisconsin and Iowa passed laws to curtail procedural abuses officials said were common in cases handled by Talx. Connecticut fined Talx and demanded an end to baseless appeals. New York, without naming Talx, instructed staff employees to side with workers in cases that simply pit their word against those of agents for employers.

Talx officials say they have been unfairly blamed for situations caused by tight deadlines, confusing state rules or uncooperative employers. Talx cannot submit information about idled workers, they say, until clients give it to them. They say Talx improves the unemployment system’s efficiency by mastering the complexities of 50 state programs, allowing employers to focus on their businesses.

“We can speed the whole process, rather than bog it down,” said Michael E. Smith, a senior Talx executive. “The whole idea is to protect those employees who have lost their job through no fault of their own and make sure they get unemployment insurance.”

Mr. Smith said employers, not Talx, control decisions about which cases to contest. “We just do what the client asks us to do and leave it to the state to decide,” he said.

I registered with them three years ago - twice. To date I have received numerous frenzied calls from Ms. Kim - but nary a single job. Meanwhile other agencies have repeatedly put me on mega-projects requiring substantive experience. Either Yorkson does not have jobs or they are just incompetent.

Yorkson seems rather unusual. Lots of ads, but I've never met one contract or doc review attorney that actually worked for, and was paid by, Yorkson. Lots of notices of jobs to people, but who the heck knows who Ms. Kim hires unless close personal friends she keeps rolling onto projects, and hence may obtain some sort of quid pro quo for always choosing the same usual susepcts. Very suspect organization in my opinion.

Does anyone know how an employer contesting an unemployment claim works. If he contests a claim and I agree with him will that end it. I worked for him on a 1099 knowing that I was a contractor and that he would not be liable for benefits but the Dept. of Labor slapped him with a claim. But I agree with the employer. Does anyone know the procedure to clear it up?

Sara Kim has a job part time you need to have a car and be near this out of the way company. But even that wasn't for real.She's got something new in her bag of tricks every day.Better turn tricks or work as Pizza Hut delivery boy/girl. You can make money on tips and letting customers molest you.

Where is everyone???? Whatzzzz going on????Does everyone have the SWINE FLU???Is everyone at TOWNHALL MEETINGS???Is everyone printing money at the FED???Is everyone out SUNNING themselves???Whatzzz going on???? What about the job front in Templand???? As I the only one worried about bills despite SPRING??? Whatzzz going on?????

These days, if you aren’t concerned about the American economy and future, then you aren’t paying attention. The decades of profligate abuse by elites upon the national engine of production have finally hit the wall.

The current jobs depression indicates that America’s once robust engine of prosperity is broken, largely because of outsourcing whole industries to cheap labor havens abroad and importing immigrant workers for those jobs that couldn’t be exported.

As a result, we no longer produce anything. There’s no there there. The American economy is missing millions of jobs that used to exist here.

The post 2007 recession has eliminated 8.4 million jobs and rendered 15.7 million American’s jobless.

The mere fact that the palatable version of the unemployment rate has remained at 9.7% for three straight months, has Wall Street cheering.

Before chiming in, consider what it will take to simply get back to a normal unemployment rate of 5%. This is mindboggling.

The current labor force of 154 million will increase by about 1.8 million over each of the next five years because of ‘newbies’ entering the job market. By 2014, the labor force will be around 163 million. A 5% U-3 (not U-6) unemployment rate would equate to 8.15 million workers without a job.

7.55 million jobs will have to be created to reduce the number of job-less workers from today’s 15.7 million to 8.15 million. To accomplish this, there would have to be 125,833 jobs created each and every month over the next five years with no jobs lost.

The average monthly job growth over the past 10 years has been about 50,000. The average monthly job growth over the past 20 years has been about 90,000. Keep in mind that the 1990 – 2010 timeframe hosted the biggest bull market and economic expansion in history. Do you see a 1990s and early 2000s bull market around you?

Such a bleak employment outlook extending years into the future is an excellent argument for an immigration moratorium.

As to Hudson ending a project earlier than assumed, this is happening on several occassions, just not this recent Hudson gig. Compliance overstaff on an antitrust HSR 2nd Request for Fried Frank e.g. or they didn't hire competent doc reviewers with any antitrust experience and Fried Frank "adjusted" so to speak. Special Counsel readied and staffed, but at the last minute it was "busted". Clients now call the shots, there always is a budget, and it is tighter now, if even existent. Clients want to avoid litigation costs, so the threat is used to leverage in negotiations, and taking steps to staff is merely part of the negotiation. At least they should be paying us something when we are readied, and accept something, since impliedly they are using the ramping to staff as a negotiation tool. It is merely the nature of the litigation beast and fiscal/economic concerns driving everything now. New paradigm and reality people.

Your post begs the question, though, where does all this work go if not being performed by these groups? GCs cannot simply decide to blow off the work, that would be in non-compliance with e-discovery rules.

It is being done in house or in some lower cost jurisdiction or by unlicensed, non-jd holding, non-cle burdened offshore scabs?

Who knows. Maybe the law firm they retain has so many Associates with nothing to do, the GCs and the law firm managing attorney is authorizing use of Associates, or maybe summers, or 1L and 2L interns expected, or maybe, just paralegal(with hands on Associate supervision....sorry about the inuendo) Who the heck knows. I certainly see @ 150% increase in para hiring in the last month.

It's another example of computer geeks wanting something different to show that they know more.

I went to Hoftsra LS and married a princess of my dream who turned out to be the bitch from hell and the nightmare of my life. I have never gone a permanent job of any kind despite having all the right credentials. $200k in debt I have alimony and child support and keep getting hauled back before the judge. My ex has convinced the judge that all lawyers are rich and that I am just lazy and trying to avoid my "legal obligations."

I've thought about hanging it all up many times.It's also hard for me to get into a new relationship after I've been F'ed over once before.

Anyone else been down the same road?Misery enjoys company, they say, but for me it's also asking what should I do.

Pace Law & Hofstra are the worst. These are 3rd tier schools. If you want to bury yourself in debt at least try to get into a top 20 or at least a 2nd tier. These 3rd tier schools need to be disaccredited. All they churn out is crap, crap in, crap out. End the glut! This country needs more doctors and engineers not lawyers!!!

I was a JD from a regional school (Cleveland Marshall) that I'm sure most here would call a TTT (or worse I'm sure, -which strikes me as a strange elitism from people who claim to be so offended by older coworkers "sexism" and "racism", while others seem willing to engage in Jew and WASP baiting of the sort I'd expect to hear from a Neo-Nazi. Are you really that brainwashed that you viscerally react to 'deviant' racist/sexist thought that clashes with your suspiciously homogeneous viewpoints?, because you sound like whiny little bitches, "like OMG, how could I deem to work at a place where the partner looks at, gasp!, demeaning pictures, [Um, because it's a job, and that involves working with people you disagree with even if you (unlike 90% of the population) are apparently hung up on racial/sexual humor.]" -Sorry, just had to get that out.

So anyways, I never practiced law beyond clinic work, becoming a software developer instead, but most of my classmates did pursue the law and seem to have successfully transitioned since graduating in the late 90's.

I'm curious just what the hell has happened to the profession to warrant such pessimism? As a developer I faced brutal outsourcing in 2002-2005, but that evaporated once it became obvious even to pointy haired bosses that outsourcing software development was an expensive, if not company ending way to "cut" costs, and the fad past, and I was able to quickly pop back into the low six figures.

I have to say, the bitterness of several here strongly echoes the arguments I heard against outsourcing in software a few years ago. In that time, the loudest complainers were fundamentally weak programmers who feared competition because they sucked. Quite often these individuals refused to learn new skills (one possibly material difference with practicing law) and simply preferred to make excuses rather than commit themselves to a changing environment. In the end the good had nothing to fear from outsourcing, because "butts in seats" thinking only guarantees failure in the world of software design. (Admittedly, this may be a salient difference: Software must ultimately get the job done in a way which is obvious to the client, so merely billing hours is insufficient).

I thought maybe someone could explain why what their doing is not subject to the same market forces? If what you're doing is something that can really be banged out by a strategically shaved monkey (this is a reference to skill, not race), then you might as well be making buggy whips and you need to find another stream in your profession to work. But if there is a qualitative difference, than outsourcing should have only a temporary impact upon the competent at all, unless this is all about billing, which is to say it's all about defrauding the client, which should tell you something: 1. The people who hired you are scum and their clients will eventually figure this out. 2. That an opportunity exists wherein you can strike out on your own with a unique competitive advantage: radically reduced client costs because you won't need to hire the aforementioned room full of strategically shaved monkeys.

Now I readily admit that areas with a large H1B/L1 etc. visa immigrant population will be suffering in a recession, because these populations are both desperate and capable of "doing without" in ways that most could not follow, but other than that (presumable temporary) effect, what am I missing?

What is it with DiscoverReady and the people who work there anyway? It's like they are in their own little world and think they are better than the Reviewers that get sucked in to working there at a lousy $25.00 an hour because there are too many law schools pumping out graduates and not enough jobs to keep them employed as lawyers? The receptionist has to be the biggest snob I ever met. It's document review people - get over yourselves.